Splits in FIFA anti-racism strategy at World Cup, ahead of big challenge at 2018 host Russia
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Splits in FIFA's plan to fight discrimination at the World Cup have been exposed after reported incidents involving fans went unpunished.
The public divide was revealed Thursday at a briefing involving the chairmen of FIFA's task force against racism, Jeffrey Webb, and its disciplinary panel, Claudio Sulser. It came at a World Cup which FIFA President Sepp Blatter has pledged would not tolerate discrimination.
Webb is unhappy that evidence provided to Sulser's panel — of fans chanting gay slurs, wearing black face make-up and carrying banners with far-right symbols — did not result in any sanctions.
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"It is obvious there is a disconnect between what we in the task force deem as racism and discrimination and what the disciplinary committee deems as racism and discrimination," Webb told reporters.
Webb said a better strategy is needed at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
"It is much more of a problem in Russia," the FIFA vice president acknowledged after the briefing. "Russia itself needs a special task force, just for Russia and from an educational standpoint internally."
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Sulser defended his panel's apparent inaction, saying that sanctions were not possible where no specific player or team was targeted.
"There have been isolated cases," Sulser said through a translator, before adding that he did want to "intervene only for the sake of intervening."
Asked about dropping a case against Mexico fans chanting a slur at opposing goalkeepers, he said: "They have used words which were inappropriate, even kind of rude, which were not directed at a specific player."
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The FIFA panel was supplied with evidence by monitors from not-for-profit fan groups. Those groups were given no formal role at the World Cup despite a proposal to FIFA by Webb's task force.
Webb said there was "absolutely no reason" for this failure to step up evidence-gathering.
"It is very unfortunate. We had identified this as one of our top priorities," Webb said.